Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The provision in the legislation allows for refusal on the basis of the opinion of the information officer that the request is either frivolous, vexatious or both, or that it forms part of a pattern of manifestly unreasonable requests. If one wanted to be literal in one's interpretation of that, it may not be the frivolity or vexatiousness of that particular request, but that it forms part of a pattern of such.

The Minister should re-examine that wording. We can all claim that we know what is frivolous or vexatious, and in the mind of a reasonable person that might be the case. It may also not be the case. It could be used as a pretext for not providing certain forms of information. The section should be re-examined. I will be pressing this amendment and will seek a vote on it. More to the point, I ask the Minister and his officials to re-examine and pick apart the wording of the section because it is subjective in its nature. It also allows three avenues for refusing a freedom of information request: frivolity, vexatiousness or being part of a pattern of manifestly unreasonable requests. The last bit could give cause for most concern, so the Minister should reconsider it.